Patients with univentricular heartHeart defect in which there is only one functioning ventricle.
Children who are born with only one functioning ventricle can be helped surgically with the help of the “Fontan circulation”. However, some impairments of other organs such as the lungs and liver become apparent in the course of the disease. At the German Heart Centre Munich, we oversee about 600 patients with univentricular hearts and research the consequences of the Fontan circulation, with the aim of understanding the long-term complications and minimising them as far as possible in the future.
Patients with tetralogy of Fallot(TOF) Congenital complex heart defect, named after the French physician Etienne Fallot and consisting of a large, short-circuit connection between the ventricles of the heart (VSD), a malposition of the body’s aorta and a narrowing in the area of the outflow tract of the right ventricle (RVOTO). This can lead to reduced blood flow in the lungs. Sufferers of this condition have a blue-red colour of the face (cyanosis).
Tetralogy of Fallot is the most common cyanotic heart defect, which was one of the first heart defects to be completely corrected. In the meantime, many of these patients have grown up and have new complaints that were not foreseeable after the operation a few decades ago. We examine the long-term course of these patients and highlight criteria according to which further examinations or interventions become necessary.
Nowadays, the surgical treatment of these patients has changed and is standardised. The extent to which this has led to an improvement in long-term outcomes is also a focus of our clinical research.
Quality of life in adults with congenitalCongenital. heart defects
Now that the surgical and intensive care of patients with congenital heart defects has improved, one focus of our clinical research is on the quality of life of adolescents and adults with congenital heart defects. We investigate to what extent the congenital heart defect or its therapy has a lasting influence on the quality of life in the further course of life.
